Back in late September, I had a weird thing happen. It was approx. 11:00 pm, and I was sitting on the couch reading, when all of a sudden I felt this onset of intense pressure and a feeling of numbness in the left side of my face and neck and shoulder. The best I can describe it is like when you have a severe upper respiratory issue, and you only feel and hear yourself, and everything else sounds so distant. However, I didn't have any pain in my head or neck, but just the feeling of pressure and numbness (actually felt like left side of face was paralyzed, but it wasn't). At the same time, I had chest pressure and got extremely short of breath. I began hyperventilating. I was scared out of my mind. By thankfully, the episode passed within minutes, and although I was shaken up, I was otherwise ok. Because hubby had to leave for work at 3, I decided not to wake him up.

Fast forward almost 2 weeks, and I had a similar episode at around 10 pm. This time, I would've sworn I was having a stroke, as my entire left side went numb and I just felt this weird pressure. But this time my heart was racing (about 140 bpm), and I was so short of breath I could barely breathe. I felt so dizzy, lightheaded, and nauseous as well. I actually threw up in the kitchen. I was beyond panicked, as was my husband. This episode lasted about 20 minutes, but I was too stubborn (& too afraid) to let him take me to the ER. I honestly thought I was having a heart attack or stroke, but I was also afraid that was just my panic and anxiety talking. So I just took an aspirin and a Zofran and went to bed.

However, the next morning I woke up, and I still had the feeling of numbness and pressure in the left side of my head, neck, and arm, so I drove myself to the ER. The doc there just smiled and diagnosed it as an atypical migraine, which I had never heard of. I get migraines, but they are not even close to what I experienced at this time. The doc said, that basically, an atypical migraine can cause neurologic issues, which accounts for the numbness, pressure, dizziness, and nausea. He then blamed my anxiety for the rapid heartrate, chest pain, and shortness of breath.

I left upset, as I just didn't feel that those diagnoses were right, but who was I to disagree?...

Well, since then, I've had sudden onset of rapid resting heartrate (the other night it fluctuated between 127 and 135 bpm) and heart palpitations. I've had this recurring feeling of pressure in the left side of my neck, and you can actually see my pulse at the left carotid (it's freaky).

Because of all that, I made an appointment with a cardiologist. I go today at 1:30. And I admit: I'm kind of nervous. -_-